Andy Garcia Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted related superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Andy Garcia-whose latest project "Pain Hustlers" is in select theaters now and debuts on Netflix on Friday.

Andy Garcia's Filmography Ranked:

18.Ocean's Twelve (D-)

17.Father of the Bride (C-)

16.The Pink Panther 2 (C-)

15.Confidence (C)

14.Passengers (C)

13.Expend4bles (C+)

12.Words on Bathroom Walls (B-)

11.Ghostbusters (B)

10.Let's Be Cops (B)

9.Geostorm (B)

8.The Mule (B)

7.Wrath of Man (B+)

6.Ocean's Thirteen (B+)

5.Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (B+)

4.Kill the Messenger (A-)

3.The Untouchables (A-)

2.Smokin' Aces (A)

1.Ocean's Eleven (A)

Top Dog: Ocean's Eleven (2001)

Ocean's Eleven is without question one of the most entertaining movies I've ever seen. The central heist is a blast to watch play out, the energy behind Steven Soderbergh's direction is infectious and the starry ensemble cast led by George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac and Garcia deliver a masterclass in being cool, funny and charismatic.  

Bottom Feeder: Ocean's Twelve (2004)

Ocean's Twelve, on the other hand, is the total antithesis of Ocean's Eleven. It's a boring, joyless disaster with a checked-out cast, messy plot and staggering lack of style. Thankfully, it made enough money to allow Ocean's Thirteen to happen because ending this iteration of Ocean's on such a stinky note would've been really unfortunate.

Most Underrated: Smokin' Aces (2007)

Alongside stuff like Crank, Shoot Em' Up and Lucky Number Slevin, Smokin' Aces occupies the space of my heart that's dedicated to eternal love for some manic action movies that I saw during my early days of high school. What Joe Carnahan created here is a profoundly dumb, ultraviolent riff on a Tarantino movie that features a whole bunch of assassins and law enforcement officers converging on a Lake Tahoe casino hotel suite occupied by a sleazy Las Vegas magician (Jeremey Piven) who's seeking immunity from the FBI in exchange for information on an aging mob boss (Joseph Ruskin). As brainless and sophomoric as Smokin' Aces, it's whole Red Bull Tarantino routine is quite endearing as Caranahan shows a real gift for crafting frenzied, over-the-top bloody shootouts and getting actors to commit to the pulpy material he hands them. 

Most Overrated: Passengers (2016)

People seems to have grown fond of Passengers after its initially mediocre box office performance and reception. I am not among the people that have had a change of heart. It's one of those movies that just remains stuck in neutral throughout as it struggles to balance its love story with the overarching sci-fi dystopian narrative and the chemistry between Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt never generates the sparks its supposed to.